“Happy Dad, Unhappy Dad” (What happy people teach, by example, to their kids) is a booklet to ignite discussion, and action, about living happily. It is an homage to my father, who gave and gives me an example of how to live happily and what really counts in life. It follows the format used by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter in “Rich dad, poor dad”, comparing two different world-views; in the case of “Happy Dad, unhappy Dad”, the topic is joy and not financial prosperity, and the Happy Dad is my dad, who always values his family and does his best for his wife and son, and is now enjoying happy living at its fullest The Unhappy Dad is a stereotyped version of hard-skinned people, who were not strong enough to be resilient and became cynical, giving up on living a happy life. If there will be a second version of this booklet, it will be called “Happy mom, unhappy mom”, in honour to “l’altra meta’ del cielo”, the “other half of the sky”.

Before and after (or, if you are really in a hurry, instead of) reading Chapter One, please think about this:

– is happiness about attitudes, and also the results of such attitudes? Why is happiness often seen, mistankely, as a place to reach? Why do we often crave for happiness, knowing that is a contraction in terms?

– how do we start living happily? By understanding who/what really counts for us? Understanding that, often, the more things we own, the more things own us?

– when we look at the context where we are here and now, what about thinking in terms of degrees of appropriateness, instead of only right or wrong? Why to see only in black and white, when we can enjoy a full spectrum of colors in between?

– and most important: what about keeping it simple, keeping it real, and keeping our eyes on the ball? That is: let’s focus on what matters, which in the case of my father – and mine – is family.

Before and after (or, if you are really in a hurry, instead of) reading Chapter Two, please think about this:

– which external factors facilitate our happiness?

– which external factors make our happiness more difficult?

– which external factors are neutral, happiness-wise?

– it is often said that “repetition makes perfect”. In reality, it is more about “repetition makes behavior lasting”. What do we want to make lasting, in order to live in authentic happiness?